New Plays by Charles Busch, Kate Fodor, Willy Holtzman & More on Tap for 2011-2012 at Primary Stages

New plays by Charles Busch, Kate Fodor and Willy Holtzman and an evening of reflections on family life by prominent writers are on tap for the 2011-2012 season at Primary Stages. The company, which begins each season with a summer production, is currently in previews with its final offering of 2010-2011, A.R. Gurney’s Black Tie, at 59E59 Theaters.

The world premiere of Busch’s Olive and the Bitter Herbs will begin performances on July 26, opening on August 9 and running through September 3. Actress Olive Fisher sees a ghost in her mirror, but that’s the least of her problems. Her radiator’s broken, the couple next door stinks up her apartment with exotic cheeses, and the highlight of her career was a sausage commercial in the 80s. Her neighbors invite themselves over and she finds herself hosting a Passover Seder. But are Olive’s guests there to see her, or the mysterious man in her mirror?

Next up is the New York premiere of In Mother Words, conceived by Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein, and written by Leslie Ayvazian, David Cale, Jessica Goldberg, Beth Henley, Lameece Issaq, Lisa Loomer, Michele Lowe, Marco Pennette, Lisa Ramirez, Theresa Rebeck, Luanne Rice, Annie Weisman and Cheryl L. West. Performances begin September 20 for a run through October 29, with opening night on October 4, directed by Lisa Peterson. The anthology evening shatters traditional notions about parenthood, unveils its inherent comedy and celebrates the deeply personal truths that span generations.

Kate Fodor’s Rx will have its world premiere at Primary Stages beginning January 24, 2012, opening February 7 and running through March 3. Meena Pierotti’s job is making her unhappy. Luckily, there’s a pill for that. Well, not yet. But Meena has joined the clinical trial for a new drug targeting workplace depression. The trial gets messy, however, when she falls in love with her doctor, who himself is trying to enroll into a drug trial targeting heartbreak.

The season concludes with the New York premiere of Willy Holtzman’s The Morini Strad, which begins performances on March 20, 2012,, opens on April 3 and runs through April 28, directed by Primary Stages founder Casey Childs. Inspired by the true New York story of concert violinist Erica Morini and her legendary Stradivari violin, The Morini Strad is a delicate duet between Erica, a difficult and former child prodigy, and Brian, a stubbornly independent violin maker she hires to restore and then sell her beloved Strad. As Brian makes the arrangements, the question of what will become of the priceless instrument threatens to destroy their unexpected friendship.